OKEECHOBEE -- Many in the Okeechobee community were saddened by news of the death of longtime resident Gordie Peer.

On March 17, Okeechobee County Sheriff Noel Stephen posted the news on social media:  "We are saddened to share with you the passing of our longtime friend and C.O.P. Member, Gordon ' Gordie' Peer. Gordie, to all who knew and loved him. Gordy served his Country in the United States Marine Corps, and he was a Member of the Okeechobee County Sheriff’s Office C.O.P.’s since the beginning. Gordy loved his community, and he enjoyed working and helping and seeing kids succeed. An Agricultural Memorial Scholarship in Gordie’s name will serve the youth in our community, and will continue the work that Gordie loved most."

Peer, who sometimes claimed he did not know his own age, was known for his skill with a whip, his history as a wild west showman and his friendship with the original Lone Ranger, Clayton Moore.

Peer loved to tell a good story.  It didn't matter that details in Peer’s stories did not always match up. He liked to keep things interesting, and once admitted he would fib to reporters to see if they would print it.

In one version of his life’s tale, he jumped a train at age 12 and wound up working in a wild west show, then later joined the Marines by lying about his age.

In another, he joined the Marines with two friends right after high school graduation.

In the 1950s, Peer found work in Hollywood working as an extra and a stuntman in western movies.  Peer appeared in numerous movies and worked with legends like Clayton Moore (The Lone Ranger), Paul Newman and legendary trick rope star Lash Larue. He appeared in the 1955 movie “Battle Cry,” that starred Van Heflin and Aldo Ray.

In 1958 or 1959 (the story varied), he found a winter home in Okeechobee, traveling to wild west shows and rodeos the rest of the year.

He was interested in sharing his knowledge with others, especially with young people. From 2001 to 2019, he hosted Cowboy Gatherings at his VP Ranch in Okeechobee County, where seasoned cowboys taught skills such as roping, whip cracking and knife throwing.  

His collection of cowboy memorabilia, which he regularly shared with displays at the Okeechobee Public Library, was featured on the American Pickers television program in 2020.

In a 2019 article in the Lake Okeechobee News, David Chaltas reported on one of the library programs:

“For those who don’t know Mr. Gordie V. Peer, allow me to update you on this legend. Gordie grew up during the Depression and was on his own as a teen; being only 12 years of age. One day he hoboed a train and soon discovered it was a Wild West Show owned by Col. Jim Eskew. He talked to the workers and the colonel, who offered him a job taking care of the horses. He was a natural and had found his calling. Before long he was practicing with a rope, twirling his gun and began catching the eyes of several people. His rope tricks, bullwhip feats and shooting exhibitions became famous. He began meeting cowboys from the silver screen.

“He credits the Cisco Kid (Duncan Renaldo) and Poncho (Leo Carrillo) with introducing him to Clayton Moore, forever known as the Lone Ranger. The year was 1951, and Clayton Moore had heard of this cowboy who could rope cows, ride bulls, twirl a gun and crack a bullwhip with precision. He went to an event and there he saw Gordie perform. A friendship was formed, and in later years, The Lone Ranger, Tonto (Jay Silverheels) and the other sidekick of legend toured together. The Lone Ranger would narrate while Gordie would demonstrate. One of the climaxes of the show was when the old Lone Ranger shot a gun out of Gordie’s hand!

“ (Gordie said:) ‘I was in my early 20s then, and see, I’d worked on ranches, handled cattle. But Clayton was an actor, not a cowboy.’ Gordie taught the Lone Ranger how to twirl his gun, work with the whip and do the backspin draw from his holster. I am sure he also assisted in teaching the Lone Ranger to ride with such grace as seen in the long-running series.

“Gordie was in several of the silver-screen westerns with several cowboy stars and worked the rodeo circuit. He was also an accomplished trick rider, along with being an expert with his whip and a quick draw.

“In 1958,  Gordie stopped in the sleepy little cow town known as Okeechobee. He only had a few pennies, but the waitress offered an act of random kindness. She fed him with what he offered her. He decided to settle and has a 20-acre ranch where he still teaches the God-given skills he possesses.”

 In a 2019 interview with Lake Okeechobee News reporter Cathy Womble, Peer recalled his military service: “Raised in Canandaigua (which is the Indian word for the chosen spot), N.Y., Gordie enlisted in the Marines immediately after his high school graduation. One of his high school friends said they would all soon be drafted anyway and they might as well go enlist in the branch they wanted to be in. So, the three friends, Gordie, Tom Parker and Richard Whipple, all went together to enlist.

“When he enlisted, he enlisted under a program called ‘Indefinites,’ which had just come out. While most people enlisted for two years or four years. Indefinites were kept as long as there was a national emergency, whether it was ten years or two years, but as soon as the emergency was over, they were released. The program did not last long, he said, because it was confusing, and no one ever knew how long they were serving. You were always on-call. He and his friend Tom (Parker) ended up serving two years before being released because the Korean conflict ended. Gordie went into the active reserves then and served from 1952 until 1959.”

In this interview, Peer told a different tale of how he ended up in Okeechobee.

“In 1959, while living in Colorado, Gordie was asked to represent the Florida Cattlemen’s Association in The Florida Previews, which was a show the state of Florida had put together to try to increase tourism in Florida. Many businesses and amusements in Florida sent representatives to the show, and the Cattlemen’s Association wanted to send someone to represent them. Pete Clemmons was in charge of finding someone, Gordie said, and they couldn’t find anyone here so he called his brother Bud in Colorado. His brother and Gordie were friends at that time, and that’s how Gordie, who lived in Colorado, ended up representing Florida in the show. After the show, Bud suggested they both come to Florida to visit his brother Pete. ‘He told me I should go because I was representing them and didn’t even know what they were,” said Gordie. After his visit to Florida, Gordie said he went back to Colorado and got stuck in a snowbank. He decided that was enough of that and moved to Florida.”

In 2021, Peer found himself the target of an internet hoax when an online story stated he had died in 2020. Peer, who did not own a computer, was confused by calls about his “death.” He took it in good humor: “I say yep! They buried me with a cell phone.”

In a 2022 interview with the Lake Okeechobee News, Peer explained the importance of cracking a whip.

“You don’t whip the animal,” said Peer. “You rarely get close enough to touch them. “The sound of the whip cracking spooked them, so they’d all bunch up. Then you could drive them to the cow pen.

“The cattle would spook from the sound, just the way people do,” said Peer. “Pop a whip and they duck to get out of the way.”

The crack of a whip was also a way for cowmen to communicate with each other in the dense brush. “If you hear a whip pop, you know somebody’s over there,” explained Peer. “It was used rather than yelling. If you were working with someone, they might say, ‘if I get in trouble, I’ll crack the whip’.”

The longest whip he’d seen was at a ropers’ gathering. The man rolled out a 105-foot-long whip and made it snap, remembered Peer. But such a long whip would be of no use working cattle.

Peer said he learned to braid his own whips after watching a whip maker braid six lengths of rawhide. He perfected his whips by adjusting them for length and weight. He learned to crack the whip and hit targets with a whip with lots of practice.

In Hollywood, Peer became friends with the man advertised as “King of the Bullwhip,” Lash LaRue. LaRue starred in westerns in the 1940s and early 1950s. His character in the movies would disarm villains using a whip instead of a gun.

His real name was Jack LaRue, said Peer. LaRue was an actor, not a cowboy. When he first starred in the movies, he didn’t really know how to use the whip, Peer explained.

“In the movies, he would swing the whip and then later they put the sound in.

“I worked with him and helped him with it,” said Peer.

LaRue was later credited with teaching another actor, Harrison Ford, to use a whip for the Indiana Jones movies.